SEO/320: THE MECHANICAL PRESS ADDRESSED TO THE MODERN FORGING
The new continuous and discontinuous cycle mechanical press
Mecolpress is proud to introduce the new model of continuous/discontinuous cycle mechanical press for hot forging, size 320 tons.
This press is designed to improve the features of all the previous machines in the size range from 200 to 360 tons. Finally just one single press will be able to guarantee the performances of the historical SEO/27 CVE-CS or SEO/36 CVE-CS presses, and it will be the new mechanical SEO/320 press, indeed!
The experience acquired in more than 50 years of activity brought us to analyze every day the forging needs of many worldwide Customers. The main topic that emerges is that the greatest force capacities are needed to deform new materials, high alloys\without lead that are considerably more high-strength.
The result is a totally innovative press that includes all the improvements that Mecolpress applied over the recent years.
SEO/320 press was born to satisfy all the new productive needs demanded by the ongoing changes in the world of “modern forging”.
Recurring problems for a forger
If you are a forge manager or an owner of a forging factory, it surely happened to you that, to satisfy your Customers request, you brought your presses to the higher limit of the performances. Consequently one of the following situations will surely happened at least one time::
- breakage of the gears, and in particular of the teeth;
- breakage of the transmission shafts;
- maintenance on bearings and clutches….
Forcing you to unexpected machine stops, with all the related inconveniences\additional costs!
Solutions proposed by Mecolpress
Machine downtimes cannot totally disappear. We must remember that we are talking about mechanical presses that forge metals at very high temperatures and that can be subjected to overloads! But these can be drastically reduced.
”Why often we say that years ago the machines did not break down?”
The answer is easy! They were sized and studied specifically for the productive needs of that time that do not coincide with the modern ones any longer!
Mecolpress answer to the new required performances in the forging operations is the new SEO/320 press that is what each forger needs today!
Technical characteristics of mechanical press SEO/320
- The machine has a monolithic structure in welded steel in order to ensure the maximum stability and duration over the year.
- The gears have a total innovative structure and extremely simplified that does not consist only in the dimensions increase, as you might think, but it consist of a series of improvements that allow the machine to work to the maximum performances without any breakage risk.
- The cushion was simplified, with the removal of the manual adjustments and of the mechanical parts generally subjected to wear.
- The flywheel was developed to guarantee enough deformation energy even at low turns. This particular characteristic is very appreciated by who has to forge the material requiring low deformation speeds.
- We have paid close attention to the ergonomic aspects: the operator can set up the tooling of the machine very quickly and without excessive efforts. Therefore you will find the equipment without tight spaces with wide visibility and, above all, safe and reliable.
We summarize in the following table the main technical characteristics of the new SEO/320:
An opportunity for the forgers
Mecolpress offers to every potential customer the possibility to inspect at least one version for each machine model at the production site based in Flero (Brescia). As a matter of fact, the main versions of the most requested models are always in production.
This results in an important advantage for you Customer because we are offering:
- the opportunity to see/experience the new machines with the support of our specialized personnel at your disposal to clarify any doubts or curiosities;
- A very competitive delivery time In case of purchase!
Smart Brass Forging
We report the article below FIA Magazine, the Forging Industry Association, that speacks of us.
Smart Brass Forging
By Danilo Fagnani
MECOLPRESS started their activities in Brescia (Italy) more than 50 years ago, in 1969, providing solutions for the hot brass forging industry. MECOLPRESS then widened its portfolio including hot forging steel, aluminium, titanium, and special alloy applications. MECOLPRESS is now offering the most modern technologies available for mechanical (HEAVY family), hydraulic (ME Family) and screw driven (TDS, FPN family) presses.
The region of Brescia, located East of Milan, is generally considered the cradle of brass production, at least 20% of the total world production is firmly located here. The Brescia region is still able to compete with Chinese brass manufacturers (35% of the brass total world production) even if the production costs are not comparable in terms of manpower, energy and etc… The secret of this success is the know-how of the full brass production chain, industrially started from the 19th century, from melting process passing through forging then achieving the final product completion. MECOLPRESS was born and built in this interesting and dynamic environment, participating and contributing to solve the main challenges of brass producers (Smart Brass Forging).
These challenges are cyclically recurring in the market, and they can be summarized as follows:
- raw materials availability and costs;
- high variability in the market for parts from the peaks of high demand to small lots with frequent parts changeovers;
- difficulties to find the necessary manpower, from highly skilled operators, to maintenance technicians, to standard operations workers;
- availability to grant the best products quality reducing the non- compliant ones;
- reduction of the energy consumption approaching the green economy
MECOLPRESS is supplying to the market the most powerful hydraulic presses (ME family) offering horizontal\vertical coring performances achieving:
- flash-less forging;
- reduced part material thicknesses;
- deeper and deeper punch coring
These features drive achieving parts with less weight and avoiding any further downstream process as trimming. ME hydraulic presses family (more than 60 units supplied from 2010) has standard sizes:
- 100 to 500t as die closure force
- 30 to 350t of punch coring force
The coring punches have independent movement guiding and optimizing the flow of material inside the die’s cavity. The punches forces, speeds, displacement sequences can be flexibly implemented in the HMI operator panel depending by the products to be forged (Smart Brass Forging). One of the four horizontal punches can be orientable (without losing coring force!) with the variable angle from from 0 to 45° allowing sloping coring for the parts.
The ME family hydraulic presses grant production performances that, depending by the equipment size, can reach up to 30 cycles per minute and they allow to forge multiple parts per stroke, throughout of some thousands of parts per hour is easily achievable. This will allow to complete productions lots is shortest time even if they are relevant in the number of parts to be reached. If the market conditions are changing and the market moves to lower number of parts per lot with frequent shifting between the products, the quick dies changing system will allow to dramatically reduce the down time. The fully automatic tools locking\unlocking and the servo-moved supporting arms allow one operator to accomplish the change in the quickest time (about 15-20min), in the complete safety conditions and without the help of any tools (Smart Brass Forging).
Mecolpress ME Next Generation series hydraulic press hot forging EG coring tool
The MECOLPRESS policy to reserve relevant stock of spare parts for all the presses that have been supplied is a key point to avoid unwanted down time in case of maintenance of the equipment.
Mecolpress ME Next Generation series hydraulic press outstanding parts weight reduction
MECOLPRESS is developing all of the control software for the presses: CALIPSO (Smart Brass Forging). This user interface is based on a touch screen model, it is very easy and intuitive, and it has been developed in several different languages; it allows any end user operator to work with continuity on the press and it does not require any particular skills or knowledge. Many functions have been simplified as input parameter requests to reduce the human factor effect in the press working conditions. CALIPSO defines and controls automatically all the ME family presses operations, from raw material loading up to forged parts unloading. The main parameters of each product receipt are saved in the internal memory, and can be easily retrieved for future production and transferred to customer MES\MRP. The press has an Ethernet OPC-UA connection module that grants this function as well the remote teleservice assistance by the MECOLPRESS technicians.
The MECOLPRESS R&D department is able to define the optimized process parameters and/or the best die geometry through FEA software which allows them to analyze both material flow and forging force. This on-demand service is appreciated by customers who are searching for a reliable supplier.
ME hydraulic presses can be paired with all types of furnaces: billets, bars, natural gas, electric induction, keeping in mind that the reliability on the heating temperature, the billet weight tolerance and the material metallurgical microstructure properties are key parameters to grant effective flash-less process success.
High production capacity, flexibility to switch from one product to another and high equipment reliability vanish if the forging process is not under full control. CALIPSO software is leading the game supporting the customers to control, with minimal effort. The forging forces, punches displacement parameters and sequencies, billets temperature, and so on can be monitored in the maximum\ average values or continuously during the working cycle. The desired thresholds can be set in the system to monitor the trends of the parameters and if any mismatch is found, the parts can be diverted automatically to the dedicated collecting box for further checking.
MECOLPRESS is fully committed to be an effective part of the green transition of the industry, reducing the energy consumption, pollution emission, and media consumption. This application shall not decrease or compromise the outstanding powerful performances of the ME family presses. CALIPSO and in-house engineering are the main characters of this target:
- hydraulic auto-adaptive regenerative function circuits;
- ECO mode for working pressure optimization;
- actuators optimized geometry;
- flexible set up of the operating pressure;
- AC frequency converters\variable flow hydraulic pumps;
- CALIPSO software that learns from experience optimizes the working parameters without relevant operator required intervention (Smart Brass Forging)
Mecolpress ME Next Generation series hydraulic press main view
These points collaborate to reduce the energetic consumption up to 50% in comparison with standard technology presses.
The dies lubrication system, very important in the flash-less forging, is using innovative pipe to pipe technology supplying alternative air and oil flows just with the needed quantities. All the dies lubrication parameters are set into the control software and up to 30 points can be reached; they can be integrated into the dies or with external nozzles. The proper pumps are installed on the machine bottom to collect all the remaining quantity of oil avoiding any overflow. The press lubrication is selective and only the components active are reached by the media, proper collecting box avoid leaking. No more waste of fluids!
Pressa idraulica Mecolpress ME Next Generation: esempi di particolari stampati a caldo senza bava
Mecolpress ME Next Generation series hydraulic press four parts flash less hot forging examples
The innovative suction hood embedded in the press structure collects the emission very close to the sourcing point, decreasing any possible spread into the environment and granting the best cabinet inside view of the process to the operators.
As all MECOLPRESS products, the ME series fulfills the most severe international safety standards and can be produced in compliance with North American and Canadian ones.
Danilo Fagnani Sales Manager Mecolpress
Danilo Fagnani Sales Manager Mecolpress Spa
Phone: +39-030-2560110
Email: d.fagnani@mecolpress.com
With or without flash?
When you have to face a forging project for a new piece, the first step to take is to make a simulation by means of forging software and to decide whether to set the simulation with or without flash.
With or without flash?
Start with the forging simulation
In general terms we can affirm that thin-thickness pieces and material movements in different directions or with sudden dimension changes can give defects in flash free forging.
If the geometry is uniform and the section variations are contained, you can think of dealing with a flash free project.
It is true in all cases that starting a flash free project can allow evaluations that push to optimize the geometries of the piece (if it is possible to operate on the outer geometry) or it can drive the next analysis with flash.
A first flash free step involves certainly reduced calculation times and allows an evaluation of the punches forces and dies closure that can approximatively be considered valid in general.
Suitable for forging with flash
Here above a geometry that very hardly is fit for a flash free forging
Suitable for flash-free forging
In this case, the success of a flash free project is very likely.
Is the press you have chosen suitable for forging your piece?
Secondly, it is necessary to roughly estimate if the analyzed piece is workable for the considered machine model.
At this stage you need to have a database showing the average pressures on half dies and on punches.
For this purpose, as the simulation history evolves, it is very useful to keep an Excel file in which the results in terms of forces are summarized in average pressures on half dies and punches.
This procedure allows you to understand at a glance if the result of a simulation can be considered valid or may be affected by calculation errors. Obviously, more cases are available more is likely to have reliable results, because the geometry of the piece strongly affects the force on each element of the die and therefore in the evaluation it is necessary to consider pieces with similar morphological characteristics.
Once the geometry of the piece is drawn, including the desired corings, it is necessary to obtain by subtraction the geometry of die and punches.
Firstly, however, the shape has to be scaled to take into consideration the fact that the formation occurs at a high temperature, while the drawing dimensions are valid for pieces at ambient temperature.
The typical brass value for forging is 1.012, while in the case of aluminum the factor 1.010 is generally used. With an Excel sheet, you can therefore estimate the diameter and length of the billet of first attempt.
For flash-free forging choose the hydraulic presses
Mecolpress hydraulic presses of ME series are the best solution for the forging of a part of brass, aluminum, or of other materials, without flash.
The closing force of the dies, higher than the one of the traditional mechanical presses, and the independent and controlled movement of the ram and of the extruders allow the hot forging of even complex parts without flash.
ME hydraulic presses have proved to be unbeatable in the forging of parts having some complexities.
For example, if you have to forge gate valves, our ME presses allow to forge these valves totally without flash, with very high precision, without the risk of defects caused by brass flow in the die.
In addition, even the production is higher compared to the one allowed by the traditional method with eccentric mechanical presses and with bell tool.
A ME350-4G240 hydraulic press, for example, can forge two-inch gate vales without flash, without the help of special tools, and with a productivity of about 800 parts/hour.
Another significant and practical example is that with a ME hydraulic press you can hot forge 4 brass parts at a time without flash!
Biography of our hot forging blog
At the beginning of 2017 Mecolpress decided to start a blog entirely devoted to the hot forging world.
We set for it 2 goals:
- Being a reference point for hot forging companies, above all if these are first-time forgers.
- Supporting the companies having a long hot forging experience but that want to optimize their process, to better use their presses and to find answers to the necessities they meet step by step.
We have realized, doing some internet researches that it is very difficult to gather information regarding the hot forging world.
On Google you can find anything, but you will barely find suggestions or detailed deepening on hot forging!
Frequently we happen to be contacted by beginner hot forging companies, or companies having inexpert or not particularly qualified personnel (for example you can read this article) and all of these want to have further information.
We are aware that it is not possible to become expert forgers or to learn a job from Google but it is equally true that in 2020 I have to find answers on the internet to my necessities and some deepening on the topic.
Who are we?
Mecolpress is a company specialized in the production and installation of hot forging presses for brass, aluminum, copper, titanium, steel and other alloys.
Mecolpress was established in 1969, therefore we have a long forging experience and knowledge.
In our production workshop we have persons extremely expert in brass hot forging, and recently we have inserted in our staff also a steel “technologist”, we have available a mechanic and electronic technical office completely internal and a highly appreciated customer-care service.
To date we have developed and installed more than 1.950 presses at more than 400 customers all over the world, used for the forging of brass, aluminum, copper, titanium and steel.
One of the features that our customers usually appreciate most is the after sales service: the great and guaranteed material availability is added to the expertise and solid knowledge of the machines. The efficient feedback of Mecolpress lies in the largeness of the areas dedicated to the storage of parts that can be requested by the customers (we have 2 devoted warehouses) and in the investments decided exactly in favour of the “warehouse”.
Why writing a blog regarding hot forging?
At this point we said “why not sharing part of our skills online? For example, with a company from South Africa that is wondering if it’s worth it to convert his production in a hot forging system?”
“And in addition, could all the expert forgers (Mecolpress customer or not) be interested to understand if there are improvements to apply to their production? The world has changed and even fields such as the hot forging one may seem as more “static” but, as a matter of fact, they are not. If you don’t stay up to date you will lose important commissions and the quality of your work won’t evolve!
Which kind of answers will you find on this blog?
With our blog we offer ideas and tips to improve each forging process. To manage the machines and the forging lines in the best way in order to obtain the best productivity, more flexibility and less maintenance.
The topics that according to us are easier to speak on are the technical ones, thanks to the experience acquired in 50 years of activity and to our numbers, but we try to maintain a character that can be easily understood also to the less experienced companies, remaining at disposal for further in-depth detailed explanation.
In the “Case Study” category you will find for example:
- How we could help a German customer of ours to win successfully a challenge, to forge a very complex set of parts that he didn’t dare to accept as an order.
- Is it possible to reduce the gate valves costs by forging without flash? It is possible by means of ME hydraulic presses.
- Is your screw press driving you crazy? You could have disregarded what for you is just a detail, but our experience taught us that it can make the difference!
We propose solutions to problems caused by a not optimal usage of the presses or screw presses, by the inexperience; these are requests that we collect from our after-sales department. We give voice to necessities that also for expertised hot forging companies sometime can appear as complex.
A challenge we can win for our customer means for us a great satisfaction!
THE PRESS AUTOMATICALLY SEPARATES THE FORGED PARTS: GOOD IN ONE BOX, BAD IN ANOTHER!
Differentiated unloading of the forged pieces
The press automatically separates the forged parts and divide them into different boxes. The press has become intelligent!
The differentiated unloading of the forged parts is an interesting function that Mecolpress provides by default on all hydraulic presses, but it can also be added as an option on eccentric mechanical presses.
Hot forging for higher quality of forged parts
The metal hot forging differs from the cold one because it allows you to obtain high quality pieces through an important deformation of the starting material. By working brass, copper, titanium, steel and aluminium by means of hot forging presses, in fact, it is possible to produce particular shapes, even with complex geometries.
The metal hot forging therefore allows to obtain parts that are more resistant than those obtained through other production processes.
In particular, metal hot forging can increase the strength and resistance of the products. For these reasons, the production of hot forged pieces guarantees specific advantages in their mechanical characteristics compared to those produced with other technologies such as casting or mechanical machining with chip removal.
The hot forging, compared to the casting processes, allows to obtain mechanical characteristics and surface appearance of superior quality. We at Mecolpress know it well, so much that we have made “Technology of Shape” our motto.
The piece produced must therefore be perfect, its quality must be certified. For this reason, Mecolpress has designed a system that allows the press automatically separates the perfect forged parts from those to be evaluated as they may not be such.
Why is it so important that the press separates the perfect forged parts from those to be evaluated?
From the automotive sector, the Lean production method teach us:
- Companies can be competitive on small production batches (producing only what is necessary) instead of manufacturing high quantities at low prices, with the risk of keeping high stock levels, are rewarded with success.
- The second must of the “Lean” work methodology is the zeroing of the waste and dispersions, or in other words, of the useless productions because of defected parts.
One of the most recurring needs in our customers is to have an ever more intense control of the forging process: the machine must be able to control as many parameters as possible important for the forging process, record them to make statistical predictions on the deviation from the optimal production, carry out checks.
Mecolpress offers a series of forging presses that fully meet the needs described above: the ME hydraulic series.
The hydraulic presses can control numerous process parameters and on these manage the logic for rejects or collect the measured values for statistical analysis. For example, they can control:
- the temperature of the billets to be loaded,
- the coring punches penetration time,
- the punches real penetration force,
- the final position reached by each punch.
Here you can learn more about the most important process parameters that hydraulic presses are able to evaluate.
The machines of the ME series have the credentials to be competitive in a modern and controlled forging field; they operate at their best on medium / small batches, thanks to their flexibility.
In this video we show how our hydraulic presses perform the differentiated unloading of the forged parts:
The pieces that do not fully comply with the process parameters set by the operator and analysed by our powerful Calipso software to control the forging process, are unloaded in a separate bin.
For the customer this operation translates into an important saving method:
- Less waste of time,
- Less material / pieces to be discarded,
- Be sure that the forged piece complies with the required characteristics,
- Get perfect shapes.
Another company based in Brescia chooses Mecolpress hydraulic presses.
With regularity and continuity, Mecolpress gains new Italian customers, the hydraulic press is confirming to be the winning choice.
Case Study: How we acquired the latest customer from Brescia
We report the case of a new customer based in Brescia that we have just acquired, an interesting case study to understand which are the necessities of the companies working in the hot forging sector and how Mecolpress provides answers.
It is the case of a company established in the international market for the very high quality of its production, consisting mainly of mini valves, valves and fittings for the sanitary and heating sector. This company has its own brass hot forging department, developed to cover the 100% of the forged parts needs; the recourse to very few and highly selected external suppliers happens just in case of particular peak of volumes.
The presses equipment of this company consists of 5 machines, always full of work: 3 more traditional and “dated” (eccentric mechanical presses of the historic producer Rovetta, that now no longer exists) and two more recent little hydraulic presses of a particular type, proposed by an European producer.
Knowing better the company, now customer of us, we could appreciate right from the beginning some undisputed features:
- Advanced transfer machines;
- A working method focused on the precise and deep knowledge of all the productive processes;
- A forward-looking vision on the continuous training of all the personnel that is involved with the management regarding the strategic decisions and that creates a uniform a close-knit group;
- A quality department having knowledge, methodologies and instruments not only for the examination of the parts but also for the evaluation of the method used for their production.
During various meeting both at customer’s and Mecolpress site, we had the opportunity to present them our complete range of presses and in particular the functionalities of our hydraulic presses of ME series.
Mecolpress method
The customer wanted to test us, taking advantage of the Mecolpress strategy of having a selection of presses almost ready for delivery, for carrying out forging simulations with two parts of their production range on the specific press of their interest.
The result was that, thanks to the constructive collaboration of both teams (the customer and the Mecolpress ones), in just 9 weeks from the decision of beginning with the simulations, we could:
- Carry out the forging simulations of the two parts to be tested;
- Manufacture the related forging dies;
- Carry out forging tests with two dies (in manual and in automatic cycle, since Mecolpress has 2 high-performing push-type gas furnaces;
- Dismantle and demolish one of the old presses of the Customer;
- Deliver at customer site in Brescia a new ME150/4G62 hydraulic press, exactly the same one the customer saw and tried.
Why the company under consideration chose Mecolpress?
We thank the customer for the trust and for having tested us, and we are particularly proud that even they, as other customers, after having bought and used the hydraulic presses of our competitors, have chosen to purchase Mecolpress for the future.
The decisive points for this new positive result are in short:
- Mecolpress can offer to the customer not only any kind of new presses, but also exceptional expertise in the maintenance of old presses, of other manufacturers (in this case Rovetta).
- Mecolpress hydraulic presses, both for mechanical and construction project and for extremely developed software, offer to the user an incomparable ease and usage flexibility.
- Choosing Mecolpress, the possibility to conclude an investment in very short time, and to see it becoming rapidly productive; who wants to invest has no time to wait and must be helped to be competitive as soon as possible!
Would you too like to try a forging simulation?
Don’t waste your time,
test us!
Hydraulic Press ME100, the SuperFast!
Forge up to 60 pieces per minute without flash!
Our range of hot forging hydraulic presses ME has been enriched with the latest model ME100. It is a compact machine, dedicated to the forging of low-weight complex pieces, with extremely high productivity.
Mecolpress patented hydraulic presses, suitable for hot forging of standard and special brass or aluminium pieces.
This clamping force is higher than those of traditional mechanical presses. Independent & controlled movements of the ram and punches allow for flash-less hot forging also of complex pieces.
In addition to the ME150, ME250, ME350, we now also offer the ME100:
- 100 Tons of die closing force;
- 30 Tons for each of the punches (there can be up to 5)
- Forge in single or double figure, horizontally or vertically, and it is Super-Fast!
We tested it up to 30 strokes per minute and of course … it was promoted with full score!
As for all our ME hydraulic presses, the range of pieces that can be forged is very wide.
Here is a photo of typical brass parts that can be forged with this press:
Some info as an example:
– it can print ball valve bodies up to 3/4 inch, without flash (in single figure), or 1/2 inch in double figure.
– Accepts dies size 180x180mm.
– Punches stroke: 75mm.
Mecolpress has in fact the skills and the appropriate structure to make you ad hoc consultancy. Through the drawing of the piece you want to forge, we can perform a die simulation through the dedicated software in our internal technical office.
It will also be possible, if necessary, to carry out a real forging test of your piece thanks to the machines that we always have available at our company to carry out forging tests. We are thus able to offer you the machine, or the most suitable forging line for your needs.
And if the right press for you was not the ME100, we are always able to make the specific proposal for the needs of each customer, because Mecolpress has the widest range of hot forging presses of all!
Mecolpress, 50 years in the hot forging sector
This year Mecolpress has reached the goal of its first half century of activity by presenting a new continuous and discontinuous cycle press at EMO exhibition in Hannover, held last September.
In the present of Mecolpress there is also an investment in the world of electric scooters.
The video story by the management of Mecolpress:
Established in 1969 by Giulio Molinari, Giulio Barbisoni and Pietro Caggioli, MECOLPRESS was founded as a manufacturing company of mechanical presses for brass components hot forging. A few years later, in 1973, the company acquired its current production site in Flero, in via Don Maestrini, initially extended over an area of 2,000 square meters, and then it expanded increasingly reaching 6,000 square meters in 1993. Today Mecolpress has acquired a second industrial area next to the first one where the construction of a warehouse is coming to an end, reaching a total area of 30,000 square meters.
In addition to the industrial area expansion, over the years Mecolpress has aimed higher and higher thanks to the acquisition of two important brands of the screw presses production: the Italian company, Dellavia (1993) and the Swiss company, Osterwalder (1998). The company has always distinguished itself as an avant-garde reality in the forging sector: remarkable are the production of the first continuous cycle mechanical press in 1983, the production of the first continuous cycle electronic press in 1993, the design and construction of the hydraulic press for hot forging of brass components without flash in 2008 and the presentation on the market of the screw press with direct drive motor in 2013.
In September of this year, in occasion of EMO exhibition in Hannover, Mecolpress officially presented the new series of continuous and discontinuous cycle eccentric presses, the HEAVY series.
This new machine has an innovative and modern structure, more robust, and designed to simplify the control and maintenance for the operator. The automation and the dies lubrication of the machine was completely renewed, thanks to the addition of a bearing, that allows, among other things, for vibrations reducing and it is provided with a new intelligent software for the production process analysis and for predictive maintenance.
On 31st August, Mecolpress celebrated its first 50 years of activity by opening its doors to the families of the employees who work at the Flero site every day. In this first half century of activity, there have also been moments of sacrifices and difficulties, but the tenacity and determination of its founders allowed Mecolpress to emerge very quickly in a particular market such as the forging one.
The second generation played an important role in the history of the Rhinoceros, as well, in particular, during the economic crisis of 2008, when the company could make courageous decisions, expanding its business, pushing on the accelerator of innovation and research, trying to renew itself and pushing beyond the borders drawn by parents. Now the company has reached the maturity of an important reality that operates all over the world, where the glorious history of its beginnings coexists with the desire to get involved that has especially characterized with research and innovation the last years.
With the background generated by this mix of values, now also the third generation appears in the management panorama.
Watch the video of our Anniversary Party:
Mecolpress, a new adventure
In 2018 Mecolpress acquired the majority of the shares of ME Group, manufacturing company of electric scooters with an unique design, becoming the reference partner alongside the founders. The entry of Mecolpress formally coincided with the passage of ME Group from Innovative Start Up to Innovative SME. This formal transition was in fact also substantial, thanks to the contribution of Mecolpress from a financial point of view and above all from the point of view of know-how and industrial approach to the organisation of the company. ME is the first scooter in the world with a patented frame made of SMC (Sheet Moulding Compound), a compound of thermosetting resins with excellent performances in terms of strength and resistance in relation to its weight. This electric scooter can be recharged like a mobile phone: it can be fully recharged in 3-6 hours (depending on the battery charger used), connecting the scooter directly to a domestic outlet in the garage or office or extracting the battery.
The ME Start Edition version (sold out) was followed by the range available from the 2019 season: 2.5 kW moped model, 45 km/h top speed (limited by law) and 80 km range and 6 kW model with a speed of 80 km/h. Touch display, USB socket and a range of accessories in continuous evolution complete the equipment of ME.
Company numbers:
Mecolpress has grown over the years both in terms of volume of the industrial area and in terms of numbers. Starting from the employment situation: in 1985 Mecolpress had 29 employees, in 2018 it practically doubled its staff to 55 employees. Turnover and production are also growing: in 1985 the company turnover was just over 2.7 million euros. By 1995, turnover rose to 7.5 million euros and then the last available turnover (2018) exceeded 11.3 million euros.
Over the years production has also gone hand in hand with turnover increase. Today Mecolpress has 559 customers in 59 countries worldwide. All over the world there are 1126 Mecolpress machines, including screw presses (101), mechanical presses (806), hydraulic presses (40) and trimming machines (179). Most of them (763) are located in Europe, but the Flero-based company has also exported in Africa (62), Americas (103) and Asia (198).
In addition, Mecolpress is particularly active in after-sales service. The heart and pride of Mecolpress is its large spare parts warehouse, which is able to supply accessories or spare parts for machines produced fifty years ago. For this reason, in addition to the sale of machinery, there is a wide activity related to the service and supply of accessories (such as tools, arms, spare parts, etc..) in the order of more than 1,000 units, bringing the total production of machinery and spare parts to 2183 pieces.
Screw presses
Come to discover the application sectors and the functioning of Mecolpress screw presses. Used for hot forging, these presses can be employed with every type of material and are distinguished by the realization of full parts.
Screw presses functioning
Mecolpress offers a wide range of presses both hydraulic and mechanical. Also screw presses fall into this last category, ideal for hot forging of parts of great dimensions or that require more passages for shaping. These mechanical screw presses can be provided with a disc friction control or a direct control with electric servomotor.
The screw press choice is determined according to the type of part you want to forge. Hallmark of the screw press is its ratio force-machine dimension, that results greater than the specific one of an eccentric mechanical press.
These mechanical presses can be used with every type of material and the frequency of strokes is quite reduced. For this reason, there is a tendency to use this machine for the production of little batches, that is often true for parts of great dimensions.
Mecolpress offers to its customers three lines of screw presses: Dellavia series and Osterwalder series that are friction screw presses, and TDS series with electric motor. All the screw presses models can be integrated with complete and automatic forging lines, that from bar raw material realize finished forged parts.
The tonnage can go from 170 tons up to more than 2.700 tons, to be chosen according to the geometrical shape you want to obtain and of course to the material to be forged.
The applications
The screw presses are used for the realization of parts destined to different application fields including for example, watch cases, parts for sport equipment, for automotive or for biomedical titanium prothesis.
So, it is possible to produce very small parts, such as for example, clothing zipper pullers till to aluminum sport bows of 1 m of length. The parts, produced by this type of machine, are not cored but full.
The screw presses are very used also in the fashion field to realize belt and bag buckles, with brand-specific shape.
In order to understand which model is more suitable to your production needs, all you have to do is to address to Mecolpress sales department. Thanks to the experience gained with years of activity in the hot forging field, we can suggest the most performing machine according to the type of part you want to forge, and it is possible to carry out a test directly at our premises.
Why to choose Mecolpress presses?
Mecolpress makes available to its customers quality presses and all its technologic know how. For those who need high performing machineries for hot forging we are a reliable and with a solid experience partner in this field, gained in many years of activity.
Whether it is an entire forging line or a single machinery, Mecolpress can suggest the most performing solution for production and offer a technical support able to face every need.
A first meeting to understand the necessities
When a new potential customer contacts us expressing its need to buy a press, our sales department organizes immediately a first meeting either at customer’s or at our premises in order to show the different machines and their functioning.
During this phase, to us it is of fundamental importance to understand the types of the parts to be forged and which could be the eventual criticalities connected to the single parts in order to be able to propose the most suitable press. In many cases our offers are based directly on the drawings of the parts to be forged that are analyzed by our technical office in great details.
In order to understand which is the best press, our technical office takes advantage of a software that can simulate on the computer the action of the machine. In this way we provide a valid tool for the identification of the machinery that meets the productive needs.
Some customers in addition to the single press require the entire hot forging line and, in this case as well, we can provide all the necessary machineries, and to optimize the production.
Forging tests at Mecolpress
Once the most fitting press for the customer has been identified, even if this is hydraulic or mechanical, we carry out forging tests at our premises. So, the customer can be sure in advance of the final result before starting the production at his premises.
In order to carry out the test, the dies for the realization of the wished parts are mounted on the machine. In case the customer does not have the die, there is the possibility to commission it directly to Mecolpress. Indeed, our company offers a complete service to support the customer during all the productive steps and can also offer this component.
During the many years of activity we have gained high technical skills and we have confronted with different situations. The gained experience has turned us into a partner that can understand the forgers needs, able to propose mechanical or hydraulic press for a specific production type.
